Comic Book Tuesday: Asterix Omnibus #2 by René Goscinny, Albert Uderzo

Author: René Goscinny, Albert Uderzo (Illustrations)
Series: Astérix le Gaulois
Audience: +7
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: Papercutz
Release Date: July 14th 2020
My Rating: 3.5 Cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Asterix mixes it up with everyone from Julius Caesar to Cleopatra in this outstanding Omnibus!

After conquering Europe, where this feisty, little warrior is a true pop culture super-star, Asterix is invading America with another three classic adventures, newly translated into American English. Asterix conquered Europe ironically by keeping his tiny village in Gaul from being conquered by the Roman Empire. Turns out, Asterix and his fellow villagers have a secret weapon, a potion that imbues them all with super strength. But the Romans aren’t about to give up no matter how many times Asterix and his friends fend them off. These classic comics are not only incredibly entertaining, filled with humor, adventure, and great characters, but the historic figures are brought to life in a way that’s exciting and humanizing, providing educational elements to each story, similar to the Geronimo Stilton graphic novels.

*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from Papercutz and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or the content of my review in any way.

I'm back with another comic book review and guys, this is probably my most anticipated read. Let me give you a little backstory before I begin, shall we? So child Ruby had the chance to discover comic books...erm... over 20 years ago. But she had no idea that girls read comic books, much less that it wasn't just for children. So she didn't take advantage of the chance. Because my first comic book, that I have no idea how I ended up owning, by the way, is Asterix and Cleopatra. Unfortunately I don't have it where I live now, otherwise I probably would have devoured it by now. Which brings us to today's review.

The minute I saw an Asterix comic on NetGalley, I knew I had to jump on it. I was fortunate enough to be granted my request, and here we are. Let's get started!

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While the published version contains 3 stories, the NetGalley file only had Asterix and the Banquet, so that's what I'm going to be reviewing today. So this banquet. It all starts with a Roman inspector general trying to win the last Gaul village standing. The Roman soldiers stationed there try to reason with the inspector general, telling him stories of the great people living in that village and their strength and magic, but he doesn't believe them. While attacking the village, Asterix decides to make a bet: He will manage to get out of the village and visit all of Gaul without getting caught once to buy supplies, and once he returns, the village will host an banquet. And so the adventure begins.

I didn't expect to laugh this much while reading this story. From the silly names, like Inspector General Overanxius, to Obelix's antics, to the sarcastic Gaul villagers. Everything was hilarious, and I loved it. I also enjoyed the journey itself. I loved the fact that with each town our heroes visited, we also got to find out their modern names, and I bet that it's a cool way to learn history.

The art was awesome. I remember watching the cartoons growing up, and I loved discovering how true to the source material they were in terms of graphic design. The colors are bright, the panels weren't overly crowded, and the drawings helped bring the story together.

All in all, I enjoyed this story, and I was rather sad that only one story out of three was included. I will definitely plan on reading more of these comics when I get the chance, and maybe I'll even get to retrieve my old copy of Asterix and Cleopatra.